Spoilers should always be hidden using spoiler blur.
When discussing a specific section, please mention where you are in the book, ideally by chapter so people reading different versions have a clear point of reference.
Feel free to read ahead if it’s exciting, but please refrain from spoiling ahead of the appropriate week.
If you have a question about grammar, vocab, cultural things, etc - ask! That’s a welcome part of the discussion too, and other readers will be happy to help.
Finished the reading for this week. It wasn’t too bad, but I had a little trouble keeping up with Kiki’s conversation with her mom. Dialogue between characters in novels still trips me up a bit sometimes.
Finished chapter 1! Like many others, I’ve read part (about 100 pages) before, but never finished and now am starting over.
I remember this striking me the first time I read it too, but I love that the reason for all the bells on the trees is that time that Kiki flew while wearing lacy underpants for the first time and crashed (due to the distraction of wearing lacy underpants for the first time).
Also, the mood is so melancholy, with magic slowly disappearing from the world! Although Kiki’s dad (a human witch and fairy ethnographer!) says maybe it can be discovered again, so … I guess that makes it feel a little less sad.
And finally, this is slightly beside the point, but I have the illustrated paperback version and the texture of the paper is so silky! I could flip back and forth between the pages for hours.
I was so surprised when I read that part lol Kiki’s super bold for that considering she’s fying above everyone’s heads. No wonder she was was so distracted! Really though, I hope she wears pants!
There’s definitely a sad undercurrent to this world for sure. Honestly, reading chapter 2 I was wondering why exactly Kiki needed to be raised completely as a normal girl until 10. That only allows a couple of years of training before witches are expected to make it out on their own, which, age aside, seems like a terribly short training period.
As a mom myself, if I was really that concerned about passing on my witchy traditions, I would teach my child about herbs and such from a very young age so it seems normal by then. Does that sort of thing really infrige on the free-will to chose to become a witch by that age? Also, I’m probably even more worried than Kokiri about how Kiki is approaching her 一人立ち, and somehow slightly annoyed about how casual Okino is being about it all lol
Yeah, I feel like their system of passing down magic is not very robust and is likely the primary cause of magic disappearing from the world.
Love this real mom perspective. From a narrative standpoint I get it, lots and lots of kids books find ways to get rid of the parents so that kiddos get to deal with the adventure of being independent, and I appreciate that this book doesn’t kill off the parents , just makes it a tradition for witches to become independent earlier in life.
It’s a much easier read now, but I’m still looking up words etc. I looked back, and I read this nearly 4 years ago. I’d been learning Japanese about 9 months when I started it, and just over a year when I finished it.
I had to go ahead up to 42% complete now, before both my audible subscription expires and before the due date to bring the physical book back to the library.
), here are the links to the discussion from the home thread for future readers:
From a narrative standpoint I get it, lots and lots of kids books find ways to get rid of the parents so that kiddos get to deal with the adventure of being independent, and I appreciate that this book doesn’t
